“…and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and all about the money that Haman had offered to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews.”
“What’s a treasury?”
“It’s the place to keep treasures and money, like a bank. You know when Mommy goes to the bank to get money? That’s like a treasury.”
“What’s a treasure?”
“A treasure is something that costs a lot of money.”
“Like diamonds and gold.”
“That’s right. Or a treasure is something that is very important to you. Do you know what Mommy and Daddy’s treasures are?”
With wide eyes, she says, “What?”
“You and your sisters are Mommy and Daddy’s treasures. Because you are so important to us.”
She smiles brightly. “Do you know what my treasures are?” she asks.
“No. What?”
“Mommy and Daddy.”
I coo over this sweetness, and then we read another chapter, and I close the book, promising to read more tomorrow. I reassure her that the good guy, Mordecai, does not die. I tell her the bad guy, Haman, dies.
She begins to cry, almost hysterically. “I don’t want Haman to be dead!”
I hold her, murmuring comfort into her ear. “It’s okay, honey. The real Haman wasn’t nice like in your Veggie Tales movie. The real Haman was very bad and he wanted to hurt people.”
“But why?”
“I don’t know, honey. Sometimes people are just bad.”
She still cries. “I don’t want him to be dead.”
“That’s okay, honey. God wants us to love everybody, even our enemies. It makes God happy that you don’t want Haman to die. God understands. God wants me to raise you to love even the bad people.”
She calms down and is giggling again by the time I tuck her in. She falls asleep quickly.
I am still awake, wondering if I could ever feel sad for the Hamans of the world.
I read things like that and I think that, surely, we were once like your daughter. I wonder what gets us from there to here. (And I’d like to think that’s an original thought, but I think I stole it from George and Meredith on Grey’s Anatomy.)
Wow. Out of the mouths of babes.
So sweet. We’ve had similar reactions here to other Old Testament stories.
We’ve printed out this little theater more than once, ourselves:
http://thetoymaker.com/Holidays/PURIM/Purim.html
The deep compassion of children is a beautiful thing.
And that’s why we’re commanded to be like little children. They have such a pure way of thinking. Thanks for sharing such a touching story.
I do believe you have just accomplished your goal of giving her something to ponder today!
BTW, I was thinking about your list of things and one was meaningful work and the other was something to ponder or study? Anyway, I thought of poetry. I bet your kids would get a real kick out of learning poems together. There are so many great kids poetry books and if you recite a line and they copy it’s only a matter of days before they have them memorized. My students love this poetry time. I do to because it is fun and I can sit down!
Lovely. You captured the moment perfectly. Sounds like you are one good mama!
The bible is such a violent book! Gah!
Joys, it is. And one of the challenges about raising my kids in my faith is deciding when to read them certain passages. So far I have tried not to censor the material, but downplay some things with tone and explain, explain, explain. There are still plenty of stories that I can’t bring myself to read to her yet.
Before I had kids, I subbed for a friend teaching Bible at a Christian high school, and the occasionally grisly stories of the Bible were something I was grateful for. It required Bible teachers to broach subjects with the kids that some of the more censorious parents would have refused to let them hear from any other source. The Bible is violent because life is violent, and God is with us in every part of life.
we can learn so much from children, can’t we. I love this story.
Ever since the capture (and subsequent murder of 2) Korean hostages Soldiers have been trying to locate those responsible. The Army has been successful at finding and killing some of those responsible. Those men, like Haman, deserved death.
There is an important difference between the policeman who kills a bank robber, the Soldier who kills a Taliban hostage-taker/murdered, and Haman. Neither the policeman nor the Soldier is motivated by profit, greed, or ambition.
Jelly Bean needs to learn that difference just like my children need to.
I believe it was Martin Luther who said “Sheep only keep the peace between the lions and wolves….as long as there are sheep.”
I shall continue to fight for peace in Afghanistan (metaphor chosen with thought).
brother
Brother, I understand the difference between the two, and my daughter will, too, but I’m not sure that when a three-year-old is sobbing is the time to teach that lesson. Clearly, the emphasis of the book of Esther is that sometimes judgment and death are earned. I did not tell her that Haman was a nice guy, or that killing him was wrong. Sometimes, killing is necessary. Sometimes, war is nesessary.
I told her that God wanted us to love our enemies. Her whole life she will struggle with this truth, because we all struggle with it. Using this teachable moment to emphasize it just seemed practical.
If you stayed awake thinking about it, my guess is that you can.
Veronica,
My apologies. My message was not meant for Jelly Bean and was not intended as a direct or indirect criticism of your response to a distressed Jelly Bean. I should have added a qualifer as to when I thought Jelly Bean should learn those things.
brother